The Origin of Valentine’s Day

By Shewa Adekanmbi

The month of February is known for many things. Here in Canada, it’s known for cold weather, Black History Month, and most recognizably of all, Valentine’s Day. On February 14th, STEM Innovation Academy held our own Valentine’s Day Dance to celebrate this day of love. However, have you ever wondered how Valentine’s Day truly came about?

The origin story of Valentine’s Day starts way back in ancient Rome, circa 6th century B.C. At the time, this holiday was called Lupercalia. It was a festival of fertility that celebrated the coming of spring and the Roman god of agriculture, Faunus. Roman priests would sacrifice goats and dogs, turn the hides of these animals into whips, dip them in the sacrificial blood, then go out and slap both the local women and farming crops with the whips. You and I might find this practice odd, but the women of the time welcomed it, as this practice was said to bring fertility and make childbirth easy. It was quite a far cry from what we currently celebrate on February 14th, don’t you think?

How did Lupercalia evolve into Valentine's Day as we know it today, though? Well, this transformation had to do with the Catholic Church. Pope Gelasius I forbade the pagan holiday of Lupercalia around the end of the 5th century, dedicating the day to the martyr, St. Valentine. There were multiple St. Valentines who had been executed over the course of several years, however, and historians are unsure which Valentine was referenced with this holiday. In fact, there were two Saint Valentines that were executed on February 14th (albeit in different years), so this day is speculated to be named after these two saints. It took several centuries for St. Valentine’s Day to evolve into the romanticized version that we presently know. Around the Middle Ages, the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer made the first link between this day and the concept of being in love. In his poem ‘Parlement of Foules,’ he writes: ‘For this was on seynt Volantynys day. Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.’ This was in reference to the belief that, at the time, a popular birds’ mat-